Late Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson said,"It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error."This blog is for people to share their thoughts and ideas on things of interest in this town of Buffalo Oklahoma.

Click on the Topics Title to Read its commentsTo Leave a comment click on the word "COMMENT"

Saturday, January 24, 2009

My family owned and operated a café for more than fifty years in Buffalo. It was started by my late grandma and grandpa Harper. It was then handed down to their children and so my dad and uncle ran it until they retired from it. It was put up for sale and never survived after that. But how did it last the first fifty years? It was family. It literally was a family restaurant. Roots that ran deep. So the help often consisted of cousins, sisters, brothers, moms, dads, aunts, and uncles. The elders of those retired and the younger choose different careers. Most moved away, some lived out their lives here, and a few continue to do so. So the significant aspect of this is, the younger ones that choose a different career and leave Buffalo behind are having an impact on the survivorship of our businesses.

Many of the existing businesses of Buffalo have roots that, in a sense, make them a family business. Whether they took over from their parents or they bought a business and have children themselves. Take a moment right now and think about how many businesses that this applies to in this town. Now then, this situation is even more aptly applied to the farming/ranching community around Buffalo.

So here we have these family businesses all around us that reveal that their survivorship is reliant upon the younger ones....the children, to take over the reins. But remember, like most, the young adults choose different careers and end up moving away. The business runs its course and eventually closes its doors leaving empty shoes to fill. So take a few moments and imagine 10, 15, 20 years from now who will be operating the stores and businesses that you take for granted will always be there????

If no one is here to take over a business, what do we do? We recruit the other people of the world that are “moving away”, to come to Buffalo. That we can do. But getting them here is not the journey. It is just the first step. It is the planting of the seed. Supporting them so that they establish their roots is the blueprint for survivorship of Buffalo. If we don’t the venture was wasted. When lack of support of these business enterprises causes them to give in, then I wonder…..“Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?”

Friday, January 23, 2009

My there were a lot of people at the board meeting. And everyone who stayed got to witness but maybe not hear a public tongue lashing let loose by several audience members concerning blog posts and online magazines. Do they hope for the town board to pass a city ordinance to ban these computer websites? It is hard to figure out how the appearances from the audience portion of the meeting are to be used for public outrage for what is written online. Nevertheless, people where able to speak their mind and that is a good thing. If what is written on these pages upsets people to the point of trembling and shaking because they are so upset then please refrain from reading here. I again apologize for upsetting those of you. The town board meeting is still not the venue to be used for such activity but there is no surprise to say the least. Appreciation goes out to the very few people that took the time to raise their concerns in a civil manner after the meeting.

Addressing the issue raised tonight from a concerned individual demanding a retraction for previous posts there will be none at this time until the necessary studies are made. I did my homework and we are not out of the woods yet. If you felt misled by the posts I didn't mean to do that. I still firmly believe that there is a capacity issue and until the board takes the steps to fully address that situation it will always be up in the air. The core of the expense will be for earthwork related items which have not been fully addressed. The "total" costs for upgrades for the facility have yet to be determined. The sum of these is what I have predicted to be expensive. The fines did not reach six figures in itself and that may be what the retraction demand was for. As stated in the original post I would prefer to eat crow but now it is too early to set the table for that meal.

Furthermore, we all live in the same 73834 zip code. I don’t see it being divided. Obviously there is frustration with a lot of things going on and that only shows that people care. Ganging up on people seems to be a routine approach here lately. I am an individual writing what I believe and I don’t expect everyone to agree. This is the venue I choose to use. This week alone 208 different individuals have looked in on this blog. I believe it is useful.

The cat is out of the bag, and since this the first time anyone has eluded to the blog author it is now fully disclosed in the blog profile. I find it amazing that it took this long for a request of it to be revealed. My apologizies to Inside Buffalo for bearing the brunt from all of my posts.

I will share my thoughts on the extra police officer and others thoughts at a later time.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

At the last January 7th board meeting in which Mr. Bishop was absent from, the Mayor recused herself from the agenda item regarding the modification of a city ordinance that causes the City Treasurer and City Clerk to, in general, get a raise every time raises are given to the town’s laborers. The Mayor removed herself because of the conflict of interest regarding this issue and the fact that it affects her mother-in-law the City Treasurer. Because of this, the board no longer had a quorum and thus couldn’t address the issue at that time. That is exactly how that situation should have transpired.

The goal is to remove the stupid language of the ordinance prior to the filing period of the City Treasurer’s office this election period. Apparently this move is meeting resistance from the Clerk and Treasurer’s office. It was requested at the last meeting for this to be on the next (January 21st) meeting’s agenda for another attempt to bring this to a vote of the board. The City Clerk left it off this week’s agenda. After all, the more delays there are, the less likely to get any language changed before the filing period in February. An addendum to the agenda had to be posted. This is after persistence from a Town’s Trustee who is elected to address these types of issues, of which the clerk and treasurer cannot vote on. Since they can’t vote, they leave things off and continue to have selective memories. That is the typical underhanded political maneuvering that we have all come to love and expect from the city staff.

Speaking of being selective, that brings me back to the Mayor and her relationship with her elected mother-in-law, the City Treasurer. As mentioned earlier, the Mayor removed herself from the issue and caused a momentary lack of quorum for the meeting. A possible change of the ordinance could have had a negative impact on her mother-in-law’s salary and was unable to proceed. But think back a few weeks earlier when the Mayor chose to continue to participate in the pay raise that affected her mother-in-law the City Treasurer. Since this was a positive impact she continued to participate and influenced the success of the pay raise in which she had a conflict of interest. So the City Mayor remains seated in positive actions for her mother-in-law the City Treasurer and yet the Mayor decides not to participate in the things that have a negative impact on her mother-in-law the City Treasurer.

But is there any surprise here? This is the same “Trustee” that is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the hospital of which is getting a new clinic in City Hall, at the taxpayers expense, due to her participation, guidance, and leadership.

If there is an “appearance” of conflict of interest, is it better to recuse oneself and remove any doubt that may linger? Recusing oneself should be done in its entirety which includes the discussion part of it. Participating and then abstaining on the vote is not the same.

These are the types of things that remind me of what happens to Buffalo when the wind blows from the East …. It stinks!!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

In what may prove to have been a hasty move Wednesday night the board voted to move the Buffalo Police Headquarters clear out to the Municipal Airport. In order to provide a secure work environment at city hall the board passed a motion to move the Buffalo Police Department to the Municipal Airport north of Buffalo. Evidently this action was taken without any involvement or knowledge by its very own Airport Board. So after all of the hard work to get the Town of Buffalo’s police department restarted they immediately cast it out of the city limits. Granted, it is city property and it is a city owned building. So,they do have that right bestowed within themselves to do this if they so choose to, BY GOSH! With no opportunity for input from the Airport Board and little opportunity from citizens concerned about their safety with the police department residing out of the city limits we have been NIKE’d. They “just did it”.

With the new clinic being put in city hall there evidently is no other alternative to provide a separate police wing. The separate area is needed so that the staff at city hall can work comfortable without potential concerns of criminals being brought through their halls for interrogation. There are times when suspects need to be separated during interrogations and placing them in an occupied office poses a risk.

Shortsightedness and selfishness still exists with our City government. When they were making the decision to remodel for the clinic they were also bringing back the Police Department. Why didn’t the staff and board raise these concerns then? Would that have jeopardized the clinic implementation? Is there so much focus on the clinic that they failed to realize their very own needs. So a knee jerk, selfish move is to grab another location that they happen to own and use it without any consultation with those involved. (Airport Board and citizens that may be concerned about a police department that doesn’t reside in the community)

They further distanced themselves from any consideration that citizens may have, (about the police chief and/or officers being stationed out at the airport), by reacting without considering other alternatives. Their predicament is a result of bending over backwards to accommodate the new doctor and the new clinic. Is there a better solution to this problem than to permanently place the Town of Buffalo’s Police Headquarters out at the Municipal Airport? Isn’t there some place within Buffalo that can be used for the police headquarters?

In other news the City Manager brought about an official complaint which was levied against one of the town’s reserve officers. Evidently Joe has visual radar and deemed the reserve officer drives to fast. He formally reported the fast driving allegations to the new police chief causing an official permanent document to be filed against the officer. Coincidentally, this is the same reserve officer that backed into the new city police vehicle with his own personal vehicle thus causing minor damage to the new cop vehicle. It should be noted that the reserve officer made the necessary arrangements to have his personal insurance cover all of the expenses of the needed repairs. Well, at least he is paying for his mistakes.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Is the Onside Buffalo five state map recognized by some of you out there? Why is Harper County represented by red? Does Buffalonian hit the nail on the head? Other people seem to have similar concerns. By the way, the map was put up on the Blog well before Buffalonian responded about their concerns. The above map is a close up of Oklahoma and gives more details on the data of the mainpage five state map.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

There are two full term board slots and then one to fill the remaining term of the recently vacated board position. The dynamics of the board could really change for the better or the people’s vote will be banal and status quo will prevail.

It is time for you to challenge yourself to step up to the plate and make a positive impact for Buffalo. Or encourage someone else to run for office.

This should not be a popularity contest. These are demanding positions and they deserve to be occupied by persons willing to commit lots of time and put forth honest efforts toward the issues that will be encountered.

Also the Town Treasurer's position is coming up.

Who is willing to stick their neck out? Is anyone out there up for the challenge?

The Buffalo High School Board voted to renew the Superintendent’s contract by a vote of 3 to 2. Hudson, Pearson, and Bowles voted in favor of the renewal. Weder and Olson voted against the Superintendent's contract renewal.

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Greg Harper

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